'Adelaide losing innocence over bikie violence'

Department of Public Prosecution director Stephen Pallaras has told 891 Breakfast he believes residents of Adelaide are becoming accustomed to seeing examples of bikie violence and losing their sensitivity due to its escalation.

"It's becoming unusual now days to wake up in the morning and open the paper and not see some sort of bikie violence that has played its way out on the streets from the night before," Mr Pallaras said.

Mr Pallaras called on politicians to urgently address two issues, the possession of guns in the community, and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

"What we need to do is get effective, and have effective legal constraints on this sort of behaviour."

Mr Pallaras said that he believed any organisation that is formed partly or wholly for the reasons of committing criminal activities, "whether they be a motorcycle gang or they be the local knitting club", the organisation needed to be outlawed and disbanded.

He also called on both sides of politics to address the issue of handguns in the community.

"For some reason or other, they do not have the nerve to face the gun lobby."

Mr Pallaras said he believed the generalisation of inadequate sentencing was not an issue, but on occasion examples did appear.

"I think the problem is that guns exist and we don't do anything about it."

Mr Pallaras said he had offered suggestions to past and current Attorney Generals on the drafting of anti-bikie legislation; suggestions he said were not accepted.

Attorney General John Rau said he shared the concerns of the rise of bikie violence in South Australia, but added firearms used by gangs were not legally obtained, with steps taken through firearm prohibition laws and changes to the laws in regards to the carrying of firearms.

Mr Rau said in 2008 laws were changed to increase the penalties for firearm possession from two years to 15 years, with prohibition laws enabling police to search suspects vehicles and residencies without prior warning.

"There are presently about 50 odd individuals out there who have these orders sitting on them."

Mr Rau said he had met with Mr Pallaras and discussed the anti-association legislation for outlaw gangs, was interested in the input of the director of the DPP, and had passed the ideas on to those who would help to document the legislation, but that did not guarantee the ideas would appear in exact form.

"The practicality of how we actually implement them are things that we have been looking at with the police and those who advise me on the constitutional issues that the High Court is constantly looking at."

In regard to Police Commissioner Mal Hyde's concerns of leniency of sentencing, Mr Rau said the DPP's door and his door would always be open to seek an appeal.

He said the government was also looking at the New South Wales courts standardised sentencing practice which offered 'merit'.